The KangaNews Awards: Market People of the Year 2021

JAQUELINE BODDY
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION

2021 posed unique challenges for bank funding, as the year went from near market absence under the term funding facility to a rapid acceleration of new issuance. Westpac Banking Corporation took the lead in communication with investors and the market on its issuance expectations coming out of pandemic-era support, and was the most active issuer in the latter months of the year. KangaNews Awards voters acclaim the bank’s head of debt investor relations, Jacquie Boddy, for her work in managing this transition in a way that supported a functional primary market.

SIMON O’CONNELL
WESTPAC NEW ZEALAND

2021 was a banner year for securitisation in New Zealand as years of promise finally flowered into an active public market. The scale of issuance and the number of companies able to use securitisation for their funding needs in 2021 speaks to many years of diligent work behind the scenes. No-one has been more involved in that work than Westpac’s Simon O’Connell, and he is recognised as one of the KangaNews Market People of the Year for those efforts.

ALDO ROMANI AND DOMINIKA ROSOLOWSKA
EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

Global borrowers have been instrumental to the development of sustainable finance in Australia since the first local green bonds were issued nearly a decade ago. Since then, supranational and agency issuers have continued to bring international best practice to Australia with their innovative programmes. Market participants acknowledge European Investment Bank’s commitment not just to its own programme but to supporting that programme in the Australian market – even through the pandemic period in which in-person updates were impossible. The KangaNews Market People of the Year recognise Aldo Romani, for steering the EIB programme, and Dominika Rosolowska, for being the point of contact between global programme and local market.

DAN DILLANE
GENESIS ENERGY

Corporate New Zealand is adopting sustainable finance practices at an accelerating rate, with a proliferation of debt facilities emerging over recent years. But no business has embraced the concept of a holistic approach to sustainable finance more clearly than Genesis Energy, which has aligned all its debt finance under a single sustainability framework and taken the lead in several sustainable securities. The company’s treasurer, Dan Dillane, is recognised for his part in the work needed to bring these ambitious plans to fruition.

ANDREW MARSDEN
RESIMAC

2021 was a banner year for Australian securitisation with record volume of issuance driven in particular by a growing nonbank sector. As the person most responsible for funding one of the longest-standing and largest nonbank names, Andrew Marsden from Resimac is a familiar face in the securitisation industry and has played a notable role in the re-emergence of the nonbank sector from the wake of the GFC to today’s scale and ambition. He is recognised in the KangaNews Awards for his consistent management of a growing programme and the scale of issuance in 2021 – including maintaining Australia’s global links through Resimac’s ongoing connection with global markets.

LUIGI MOTTOLINI
WESFARMERS

The KangaNews Market People of the Year award recognises career achievements as well as those from the year in question. Some winners, however, clearly cover both bases. So it is with Luigi Mottolini of Wesfarmers, acclaimed for both his long career heading one of Australia’s most significant corporate funding operations with integrity and consistency, and for his involvement in bringing innovative sustainability transactions to market in 2021. Of particular note, of course, is Wesfarmers’ leadership position in the emergence of sustainability linked bonds in Australia – which also saw the company recognised in the KangaNews Awards 2021 in four deal categories and as Australian Corporate Issuer of the Year.